6/28/2021 Introduction Language and Linguistics Preview Introduction importance of

Transferability of medium: spoken and written �Primacy of the spoken language: �Ontogenetic (a child first learns to speak)
�Filogenetic (writing developed much later in human history) �Social primacy of the written language in modern societies (higher
cultural prestige; science, education, law)

Universal properties of language �Although languages differ in many ways, they are made possible by the same genetic
information, processed in the brain in the same ways and they share some fundamental features and structural characteristics
�Understanding and explaining the properties which are universal to all languages, as well as those which vary across languages –
task of general linguistics

Universal properties of language �Arbitrariness �Modularity �Compositionality and recursion �Discreteness �Productivity
�Reliance on context �Variability

Arbitrariness �the relationship between the form (the sounds / words / letters / characters) that we use has no natural/meaningful
relationship with their meaning, therefore this relationship (between form and meaning) is said to be arbitrary.

https://slidetodoc.com/introduction-language-and-linguistics-preview-introduction-importance-of/ 8/39
6/28/2021 Introduction Language and Linguistics Preview Introduction importance of

Modularity �Language – a modular system: produced and interpreted by using a set of component subsystems (or modules) in a
coordinated way �Different regions of the brain – associated with different aspects of language processing

Modularity �Production and interpretation of speech sounds – phonetics �Words and their structure – morphology �Structure of
sentences – syntax �Lexicon – interacting with these properties �Meaning – semantics �Discourse - organization of language
beyond the sentence

Compositionality and recursion �Languages – organized into constituents, allowing simpler structures to build increasingly
complex units

https://slidetodoc.com/introduction-language-and-linguistics-preview-introduction-importance-of/ 9/39
6/28/2021 Introduction Language and Linguistics Preview Introduction importance of

Compositionality: examples �She sat down. �The smart woman sat down. �The tall, dark-haired, smart woman with the bright
red sweater and pearl necklace sat down.

Recursion �Property of language which allows grammatical processes to be applied repeatedly, combining constituents to produce
and infinite variety of sentences of indefinite length

Recursion �Profound implications – noone can learn a language by memorizing all the sentences of that language, so there must
be another explanation for how human beings are able to learn them �The human brain – finite, but recursiveness means that it is
capable of producing and understanding an infinite number of sentences

Productivity �Language can always produce messages that have never been produced before �Infinite combinations of basic
units whose number is limited �Rule-based creativity: infinite productivity based on a limited number of principles and rules

Discretness �Units of language are not continuous; there is a limit between one element and the next

https://slidetodoc.com/introduction-language-and-linguistics-preview-introduction-importance-of/ 10/39
6/28/2021 Introduction Language and Linguistics Preview Introduction importance of

Discreteness �Language – composed of sounds, words, sentences etc. �The fact that we hear speech as a sequence of individual
sounds, words and sentences – incredible accomplishment �Children in the first year or two learn to pick out words from the
stream of speech with no instruction

Reliance on context �Pronounciation of one and won: the same sequence of sounds can represent different concepts in the same
language �The meaning of a sentence depends on the context in which it is uttered �The context: sentence or sentences which
precede it, or the broader physical or social circumstances in which the sentence is uttered

Reliance on context: examples �It’s cold in here – could be a complaint, a request to close the window, or even a compliment
�Languages rely on the connection between form (what is said) and context (when, where, by whom, and to whom it is said) to
communicate much more than is contained in a sequence of words.

Variability �The language people use varies depending on who’s speaking and the situation in which they are speaking �Variation
– essence of information �Variability of language – indexical �Speakers vary the language they use to signal their social identities
(geographical, social status, ethnicity, gender) and also to define the immediate speech situation

https://slidetodoc.com/introduction-language-and-linguistics-preview-introduction-importance-of/ 11/39
6/28/2021 Introduction Language and Linguistics Preview Introduction importance of

Variability �People show who they are by the variety of language they use - they reveal their geographical origin and social status.
�They signal membership in a range of overlapping social groups: male or female, teenager or adult, member of an ethic group, etc.

Variability �People also use language variation to communicate the situation and purpose in which they are talking, as well as the
roles they are playing in those situations

Definition of language �Language �a) is a code �B) which organizes a system of signs which are �C) primarily phonic-acoustic
�D) fundamentally arbitrary �F) capable of expressing anything �G) possessed as interiorized knowledge which allows to
produce infinite sentences starting from a limited number of elements

General principles for the analysis of language �Synchronic and diachronic approach �Langue et parole �Paradigmatic and
syntagmatic axis �Levels of analysis

https://slidetodoc.com/introduction-language-and-linguistics-preview-introduction-importance-of/ 12/39